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Troubled Rosewood Heights nursing home in Syracuse to be turned into apartments

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University Hill landlord Bill Reckmeyer has plans to turn the Rosewood Heights nursing home in Syracuse into 94 apartments after the troubled 242-bed facility closes in 2014.
(Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, NY -- The troubled 242-bed Rosewood Heights nursing home will be turned into 94 apartments following its closure next year, according to plans proposed by a University Hill landlord.

A recently formed real estate entity named 614 South Crouse Avenue LLC has an agreement to purchase the 42-year-old nursing home from Plaza Nursing Home Co., which is owned by Crouse and St. Joseph's hospitals. The building, which has an address of 603 Irving Ave. on city tax rolls, is located between Irving and Crouse avenues south of Harrison Street.

Plans filed with the city identify the developer behind 614 South Crouse Avenue LLC as Bill Reckmeyer, who owns five multi-unit apartment houses within four blocks of the nursing home. The apartments are leased to 270 people, many of them college students, according to the documents.

Reckmeyer declined Monday to comment. But documents filed with the city indicate he plans to convert the six-story nursing home into 94 market-rate apartments, a 1,208-square-foot restaurant, offices for building management and 8,026 square feet of storage space.

View full sizeThe 242-bed Rosewood Heights nursing home in Syracuse is slated to close next year. University Hill landlord Bill Reckmeyer has plans to turn the building into 94 market-rate apartments. Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com

Hugh Gregg, an attorney representing the developer, said Friday that the developer hopes to complete the purchase by the end of this year. The nursing home will continue to operate until it is closed next year, he said.

The purchase price for the nursing home is blacked out in the plans given to the city, and Gregg declined to disclose the price. The building is assessed by the city at $14.4 million, though it currently pays no property taxes because the nursing home is a nonprofit operation. Its tax status will change once the building is converted into a for-profit apartment building.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services placed Rosewood Heights on a list of the nation's worst nursing homes in March 2012. Earlier this year, the agency fined the nursing home $16,000 for a long list of serious deficiencies found in three inspections conducted in 2012. The facility is considered a "safety net" nursing home because it accepts some of the community's sickest patients who often have no place else to go.

According to the documents filed with the city, the facility will close next year after a 156-bed nursing facility is opened on an 18-acre site owned by Mandorla Gardens Housing Development Fund Co. in Cicero. Plaza Nursing Home Co. is a member of Mandorla. Some of the residents of Rosewood Heights are expected to be transferred to the new facility, which is to be called The Cottages at Garden Grove and will be spread over 12 one-story houses.

The Syracuse Common Council voted Monday to approve a special permit for a restaurant on Rosewood's ground floor. Gregg said an operator of the restaurant has not been chosen. The restaurant is expected to primarily serve residents of the building and of surrounding buildings, according to the plans given to the city.

In October, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance, allowing the apartments to be operated with 60 on-site parking spaces instead of the 137 required by ordinance.
The developer's representatives told the city that only 60 parking spaces will be needed because most of the building's tenants will work or attend school on University Hill and will not need a car. The apartments will have a secured storage area for 62 bicycles, according to the plans.